And then the cold came; the dark days when fear crept into my mind,you gave me all your love and all I gave you was goodbye,and I go back to December all the time.

chapter image by ladycobra @ TDA :)

I narrow my eyes. We have only one choice: to fight. I bare my teeth back at her. If I have to morph, I will.

Because I'm one of the original Twelve Fire-Eaters, I can change into a werewolf whenever I want. Luckily for me, it doesn't hurt like it does for everyone else.

Vanessa and her group of followers glare back at us. I know they're waiting to see who will make the first move. Ted is tense.

Vanessa snarls and jumps forward. Her clothes begin to rip and she howls as her back curves. Her legs grow and change, and her body becomes covered in fur. I see her nails lengthen and her eyes change color. She stands as a werewolf for a moment, recovering from her morph, before launching herself at me. I duck and slide to the left.

She flies over me and falls to her side. Then she jumps over me, standing in front of her followers again. She howls and they charge towards Ted, who has his wand out shooting spells.

I glare at her and prepare myself before leaping towards her. In mid-air, my body carefully and painlessly slides into werewolf form. The Fire-Eaters pause momentarily to gawk. I don't usually morph; I'm not particularly fond of it.

I find myself glancing over at Ted every few seconds to make sure he's doing okay. Several unconscious Fire-Eaters are thrown through the air.

Vanessa follows my eyes before grinning, showing a full set of razor-sharp teeth. She stalks him. He notices her between casting spells and his face turns white.

She launches herself at him. I jump through the air and crash into her, toppling her to the ground. There's no way she's touching my Teddy.

Anger and hate grip me as I find my wolf-teeth ripping at her. I'm conscious of her blood spraying across the floor. She heaves me up and tosses me against a wall - I whimper as I smash into it.

I feel heat surge through my body. That's it. No one messes with me like that. I see her stalking Teddy again and I'm partly angry and partly terrified for him. I jump up, sliding into human-form, and pull out my wand.

"Stupefy!" I shout, and Vanessa flies head-first over Ted, narrowly missing him, before slamming into a wall and falling unconscious.

I look over and notice a pile of unconscious bodies lying at Ted's feet. My mouth falls open as I gape at him.

"I'm an Auror, remember? I am capable of taking care of myself." he says, smirking as he walks up to me. Clearly, he's right. Snapping out of my shock, I grab his arm.

"We have to go now!" I feel slight terror grip me as I pull Ted. Luckily, Vanessa has seemed to have created a distraction, so all the Fire-Eaters are gathered in the court-yard.

Ted and I burst into the Hall of the Temple of the Night. Now he's the one gaping.

"That's a statue of you." He says, motioning at the very center. In the hall are a half-ring of eleven statues, representing eleven of the first Twelve Fire-Eaters, not including me. Inside the semi-circle are two statues, perfect replicas of Auxilry Black and Fenrir Greyback. Finally, leaning down between Auxilry and Fenrir is a statue of me, scars and all.

I sigh and give Ted a look. "Okay, pretty-boy, it's a statue of me, now let's go."

Ted turns his head to me.

"Okay… wait, did you just call me..."

He never got to finish his sentence, seeing as I had grabbed his arm and yanked him straight through the front-door. Normally, I would have thought the idea of leaving through the front doors of the Temple a completely ludicrous idea, but seeing as no one is around, it is perfectly okay.

"Run," I tell him, and before I know it, the forest has swallowed us. All I am aware of is the burning in my legs and lungs as I race ahead, looking over my shoulder to make sure Ted's still there. His gasping breath stays behind me, along with an occasional thunk as he falls to the ground. He is naturally clumsy and can't even walk without falling over something, let alone run.

Ten minutes later we burst into a clearing. Ted trips over a twig and lands face-first in some leaves. His strength has abandoned him, so he just lies there. I sit on the ground, trying to get my breath back. I know I shouldn't be sitting after running for so long, but I feel like I'm about to die.

I reach into a pocket of my dress and pull out a bottle of water. Unscrewing the cap, I let the cold, fresh water flow into my mouth and refresh my poor, dry throat. Ted looks up from his spot on the ground, and I hand the water to him. He takes a long drink and sits up, breathing hard.

I inhale sharply, but not from running. Ted has pulled his cloak off, and his ripped shirt gives me a nice view. His arms are more muscular than I ever knew they could be. His smooth chest gleams from sweat. Ted's messy brown hair is stringing onto his face, and he has dirt smeared on his cheek. It's the most beautiful sight I've ever experienced.

I suddenly realize Ted is watching me self-consciously. His cheeks are bright red, and his hair is the same color.

"You got your Metamorphmagus abilities back," I tease gently, remembering that his hair has been brown recently, while trying to forget my embarrassment. He saw me checking him out. I think I'm going to die.

"Yeah, that's because I'm not too worried about dying. I don't think I have to worry about you killing me." His voice is shaky and light as he teases. My face flushes red. No, of course he doesn't have to worry about me killing him; he is fully aware of what I was thinking.

"To who?" I ask. I almost breathe out a sigh of relief when my voice comes out sounding strong, and doesn't break at all like I thought it would.

"Victoire Weasley."

What!? He's got to be joking! That veela!? She was practically my arch-nemesis in Hogwarts.

"I'm sorry," he whispers to me, seeing my look of disgust.

"Look, don't tell me sorry. It doesn't even matter." Ted flinches. My voice is sharp and angry, matching how I feel. I know it's not right to do that to him. After all, it was I who left him, and I who smashed his heart to pieces. My mind flashes back.

I was sitting in the Hogwarts Common Room. I had just asked Ted to come see me. He walked in. His eyes were watery. I knew it was my fault, but I didn't care. I broke up with him a month ago and he was still mourning me. It was getting on my nerves.

"Get over me." I barked at him rudely. His eyes looked at me sadly.

"I can't, Raven, I love you. I've had to watch you slowly scream and howl as you pull your hair out while your aunt changes you into this creature."

"I'm NOT a creature! This is the BEST thing that's ever happened to me, better than YOU!" My words had hit him harder than I meant them to. I watched his Metamorphmagism fade, leaving his real face to me.

"Here's a word of advice, Ted Lupin: don't you EVER fall in love with me again."

I stormed out, leaving him heart-broken.

My mind pulls itself back into reality. I try to bite back the tears. What did I expect? I told him not to ever fall in love with me again. I broke his heart. He did exactly what I told him to: he moved on. And now here I am, mourning my own actions.

I wish I hadn't been so stupid. He was the best thing I ever had, and I threw him away.

I roughly grab his arm. "Well come on then, we'd best be going." My voice is harsh and Ted remains quiet.

We storm through the forest. Mostly just quick walking, but we break into run if we hear a noise. After what feels like hours, I decide I can't take the tension anymore. I grab Ted's arms and yank him around to look at me.

"Look, I'm sorry okay?" I breathe out a sigh. His eyes are hard.

"No, you're right, it doesn't matter." He yanks his arm away from me and I slink back, feeling like I've been slapped. He speed-walks ahead of me, his head hunched down.

I run back up to him.

"Look, what's your problem?" My voice is angry and loud. Considering that we're hiding from Fire-Eaters, now is not a good time to be loud, but I'm being irrational anyways.

"You know why? Do you really want to know why, Raven?" His voice is loud and rough; His eyes are glaring at me coldly, his mouth thin. "Because you shattered my heart, and now that I've moved on, you've MAGICALLY popped back up in my life acting like we could be a thing again! Well guess what Miss Black? We're not and we NEVER will be!" His teeth are clenching and all the veins in his neck are popping out. He's so angry he's shaking.

"Well you know what?" I yell, furious with his behavior. "I'm so bloody sorry that I was being CONTROLLED by my aunt, who made me think and say what she wanted me to think and say. I'm so bloody SORRY that I'm HUMAN. Perhaps I should have just let you DIE!" My vision turns red with fury and my fist flies into his chin. A loud cracking sound is heard followed by Ted falling backwards.

I gasp in horror at what I just did. Ted's eyes are closed and his face is white while he lays unconscious on the forest floor. My heart begins breaking all over again. It seems all I do is hurt him. I find myself sobbing into my hands while I get on the ground and kneel next to him, stroking his hair. I finally free one hand from my mouth long enough to pull out my wand and repair his broken jaw.

I wish we would have just Apparated, even if the Fire-Eaters could find us by tracking us. Then I wouldn't be hurting my Teddy.

I somehow manage to link my arms under his heavy masculine body and pull him to a tree.

"Still out cold? I'm sorry…" I whisper closely. The rest of my anger melts off as I watch him. As a Fire-Eater, I guess I sometimes forget that I'm stronger that I should be.

"Oh Teddy, I'm so, so sorry. It's just… I can't fight this feeling anymore. I've forgotten what I started fighting for." I sigh and run my fingers through his hair, which has turned a lovely golden colour.

"Even if I have to crawl upon your floor, come crashing through your door, baby, I can't fight this feeling anymore…" I know it sounds completely ludicrous, especially since I was angry at him just moments before. But I'm so overwhelmed with him. And guilt. I still feel bad. I never should have yelled, or blamed him… or hit him.

I yank my hand away from his hair as he groans slightly and rolls over. The sun is beginning to turn the sky orange with the sunset.

Ted moans again and boosts himself up into a sitting position, holding his head in his hands and rubbing his chin slowly.

He suddenly notices me sitting next to him.

"Planning to hit me again?" His tone is cold. He doesn't look at my face as he stands up, scowling, and walks over to a tree, his back to me.

I'm suddenly aware that I still have tears on my cheeks. I quickly try to wipe them off. Ted turns back to me.

"So exactly what is –" He pauses and tilts his head. "Are you crying?"

"Raven…" He finally says. His voice is nothing more than a whisper, and much more soft than I expected it to be. He walks up to me and kneels right in front of me.

"Raven," he whispers again. I look up and almost jump backwards. He's so close our noses are almost touching, and the faint smell of wet dog washes over me. I think it's the best scent I've ever smelled. My vision sort of clouds over and my head spins.

"I'm sorry, Raven." He whispers again.

"It's okay," I finally whisper back, and I pause for a moment. Opening my mouth to speak, I'm suddenly interrupted.

A/N: First of all, credits! The first song at the top is Back to December by Taylor Swift and the song Raven quotes in italics in the middle is Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore by REO Speedwagon/Glee. Thanks to Lilyfire my bestie, to NaidatheRavenclaw - my dedicated reviewer and new beta <3, TGK, Ramona, ilharrypotter, & DobbysSock for staying active reviewers and making my day :D